A review by essayem
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson

3.0

Ultimately, closer to a 3.5/5. Fascinating history of the digital revolution from Ava Lovelace's first computer program to creation of modern-day computers, the internet and all things digital. At times, especially in discussing the minutiae of how the first computer was built - the language gets dense, and I felt a little lost between the vacuum tubes and microprocessors. For the most part however, I loved the stories of the MANY innovators (from Lovelace to Turing, Gates, Jobs, Licklider, von Neumann, etc. - honestly, LOADS of people), what they contributed and HOW - as well as Isaacson's focus on innovation being not the result of any one individual, but of collaboration. Also, how Al Gore invented the internet.

I listened to this via audiobook, so I'll also include that the narrator, Dennis Boutsikaris, is fantastic. He has an easy, soothing voice - that made me feel like he really *got* the tone of Isaacson's writing, and also the excitement the innovators experienced while in the throes of their innovations.